You Have Questions, We Have Answers

Monday, March 13, 2017

Hi Pathfinders! Early last year, we released the Campaign Clarifications document, which gave us on the Pathfinder Society team a way to answer rules questions and to adapt some rules to better fit the needs of an organized play campaign. When we put out the document, I asked the forums to tell us which rules questions have caused issues in their games. You all gave us a bunch of excellent feedback and we continue to keep an eye on the clarifications threads for new questions that crop up.

However, we ran into a bit of an issue. Campaign Clarifications works well for questions that involve a single rule from one book, but it's equipped to handle questions over multiple sources. We made lists of these more general questions and answered some of them Season 8's version of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide, but we wanted to limit the guide to only the most broadly applicable information. As a side note, Guide 8.1 is still in the works and we'll address some of the questions in that update.

In order to answer the remaining questions, we knew we'd need to make a significant update to our FAQ. We also wanted to clean out information that was already answered in the guide, or that was no longer accurate, as well as gather the forum posts from John, Tonya, and myself that had been serving as unofficial suggestions. Today's update has been a long time in the making, and I'm happy to present it to you all today.

So, what's changed? I'll go through some of the highlights by section. Please read the full FAQ entries for any of the changes below that interest you.

Organized Play Events

Creating More Events: The instructions for creating and reporting events now take Core mode games and Adventure Card Guild games into account.

Roleplaying Guild General Questions

Required Materials: There were some questions about what players needed to bring to the table in order to use material from a book other than the Core Rulebook. We cleaned up the language in the FAQ entry on legal sources to make some lesser-known options more obvious.

Factions for pregenerated characters: You can now earn faction rewards when playing pregenerated characters, as if they were a member of the faction of the character who is receiving credit for the adventure.

Caster level and spellcasting services: We've tightened up the rules on the caster level for spellcasting services, specifying which ones you can purchase at higher than minimum caster levels.

Wealth and Treasure

Poisons: the list of available poisons from the Core Rulebook has been expanded.

Upgrading Magic Items: We've expanded the rules for upgrading magic items to allow some upgrades that do more than increase a number.

Intelligent Items: You can carry more than one intelligent item at a time, and 1st level characters are never at risk of dying from picking up an intelligent item during an adventure.

Alternative Ammunition: We've created a blanket rule to allows you to purchase magical ammunition listed on a Chronicle sheet as a different form of ammunition; for example, buying +1 frost shuriken when the chronicle lists +1 frost bolts.

Scrolls: We've cleared up the rules around scrolls, such as codifying their arcane spell failure chance, the rules for scrolls with multiple spells, and the rules for determining which ability score is appropriate to use when activating a scroll with the Use Magic Device skill.

Character Questions

Race-Specific Options: We've clarified the rules around the Racial Heritage feat from the Advanced Player's Guide and other options that allow characters to take options initially written for other races.

Legal Abilities Referencing Ones That Aren't: We've clarified what happens if your archetype or other class ability grants you an option that does not appear in Additional Resources.

Spell Study: We've expanded the rules around learning spells from NPCs and filling spellbooks to make it clear that such actions are not restricted only to wizards.

Character Companions

How Many Companions: The FAQ and the latest version of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide disagreed with each other about the rules for how many creatures a character can bring to the table and use at one time. We've updated the FAQ to more closely align with the Guide.

Companions and Boons: We've added the rule from John's forum post describing what happens if a companion creature gains a boon during an adventure.

Improved Familiars (Work in Progress): We have not yet updated the entry about which familiars have which item slots and which familiars can use wands and other magic items. An update for this entry is in the works, with the help of a team of Venture-Officers, but it will take some time to pull it all together.

Do you have any feedback about this update? What questions would you like to see added in our next update to the FAQ? Let us know in the comments below.

Great work, appreciate the faq updates. I understand the reasoning behind the paragraph about paladins and poison due to thier code of conduct, but i would appreciate a futher clarification for some of the oaths, such as oath of vengence that replaces the code of conduct class feature, expecically if the paladin's race gives them a natural poison. Oath of vengence's Code of Conduct reads, "Never let lesser evils distract you from your pursuit of just vengeance" so may allow at least the racial poison.

Well, it uses the same wording as the Elf Blood and Orc Blood racial traits use ("for any effects related to race"), and half-elves and half-orcs can officially take FCBs from their parent races, so I don't see why not.

EDIT: To continue the Racial Heritage train, Blood of the Beast states that any time a human and a kitsune mate, the offspring is always kitsune. Does this prevent a human character from taking Racial Heritage (kitsune), seeing as it makes it impossible for a human to even have a kitsune ancestor?

Vishkanya have Poison Use as a racial ability, not from a class. It appears they might now be able to buy poison:

Quote:

Any character with the Poison Use ability can purchase and use poisons. No other class may purchase poisons unless they appear on a Chronicle sheet.

They have the Poison Use ability, but the "no other class" qualifier casts doubt.

If they can purchase poisons, does that mean,

Quote:

Alchemists, investigators, slayers with the Poison Use slayer talent, and some archetypes of other classes listed in the Additional Resources can use Craft (alchemy) to produce poisons that are legal for them to purchase. Use the rules listed in "How can alchemists and investigators craft in the Roleplaying Guild?" in the Character and Class section of the FAQ.

That a Vishkanya with an alchemist archetype that trades away Poison Use could still craft poisons?

"I'm not a wizard, but one of my character options references using a spellbook. Can I acquire my own spellbook?

Yes. If any of your character's abilities reference using a spellbook, you may purchase a spellbook and scribe spells in to it as per the standard rules in the Magic chapter of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook for adding new spells to a spellbook. For example, an oracle with the Lore mystery and the arcane archivist revelation could purchase and fill her own spellbooks (Advanced Player's Guide 49)."

Am I correct in reading this as, "if you don't have a class feature that references using a spellbook, then you can't have a spellbook"?

"I'm not a wizard, but one of my character options references using a spellbook. Can I acquire my own spellbook?

Yes. If any of your character's abilities reference using a spellbook, you may purchase a spellbook and scribe spells in to it as per the standard rules in the Magic chapter of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook for adding new spells to a spellbook. For example, an oracle with the Lore mystery and the arcane archivist revelation could purchase and fill her own spellbooks (Advanced Player's Guide 49)."

Am I correct in reading this as, "if you don't have a class feature that references using a spellbook, then you can't have a spellbook"?

You need a "character option", not necessarily a class feature. For example, if you have Versatile Spontaneity you can have a spellbook.

A little gnome who is very into comparative studies writes down another thing for her future arcane plans. Mnemonic Vestment, check. Versatile Spontaneity, check. So much studying left to do! So many places to go!

____
Heck, I may have to think about that feat for my IQ 12 sorceress, Zahra. It would give me a reason to up her intelligence and add a lot of versatility to an already very versatile character.

Yes, that was changed with this FAQ. Previous to this, it wasn't clear if there was any way for a character without a spellbook as a class feature to write spells into a spellbook. You could buy the defined spellbooks, but couldn't create them yourself.

Yes, that was changed with this FAQ. Previous to this, it wasn't clear if there was any way for a character without a spellbook as a class feature to write spells into a spellbook. You could buy the defined spellbooks, but couldn't create them yourself.

are there two copies of the PFS faq on the website? because even using ctrf f i'm not finding that passage on the faq

ahah... yes there are. One is now listed under organized play faq, and the pathfinder society faq is still there

This is the old PFS FAQ which was last updated in June 2014, and I guess is no longer official. THIS is the new Organized Play FAQ which is linked to on both the FAQ page and the Pathfinder Society page.

Huh. Does that faq pretty much end dumb sorcerers (so. sorcerers...) using scrolls until higher levels of UMD kick in?

emulating ability scores:

Casting a spell from a scroll using the Use Magic Device skill requires "a minimum score (10 +spell level) in the appropriate ability." How do I determine the appropriate ability score?

The Roleplaying Guild Guide describes how to determine which class's spell list to use when pricing a scroll. In the organized play campaign, we assume that a character of that class created the scroll. The appropriate ability for the scroll is the typical spellcasting ability score of that class. If more than one class could have created the scroll following the rules in the Guide, you may choose the class. For example, endure elements is a 1st-level spell on the cleric, druid, and sorcerer/wizard lists. You may choose to purchase a scroll crafted by a cleric or druid to use Wisdom, a scroll crafted by a sorcerer to use Charisma, or a scroll crafted by a wizard to use Intelligence.

Great work, appreciate the faq updates. I understand the reasoning behind the paragraph about paladins and poison due to their code of conduct, but i would appreciate a further clarification for some of the oaths, such as oath of vengence that replaces the code of conduct class feature, especially if the paladin's race gives them a natural poison. Oath of vengeance's Code of Conduct reads, "Never let lesser evils distract you from your pursuit of just vengeance" so may allow at least the racial poison.

It appears that the Oathbound archetype does indeed change the language listed for the core Paladin's Code of Conduct and never again mentions poisons. This would seem that Oathbound Paladins are exempt from this ruling.

"Code of Conduct: The oathbound paladin must abide by the listed tenets of her oath in addition to the specifics of her god's code of conduct. In some cases, a deity's or paladin order's code may conflict with the oath's tenets; in most cases, these conflicts mean the oath is unsuitable for a paladin of that deity or order (such as the Oath against the Wyrm with respect to a good dragon deity or a dragon-riding order of paladins) and cannot be selected by the paladin."

Great work, appreciate the faq updates. I understand the reasoning behind the paragraph about paladins and poison due to their code of conduct, but i would appreciate a further clarification for some of the oaths, such as oath of vengence that replaces the code of conduct class feature, especially if the paladin's race gives them a natural poison. Oath of vengeance's Code of Conduct reads, "Never let lesser evils distract you from your pursuit of just vengeance" so may allow at least the racial poison.

It appears that the Oathbound archetype does indeed change the language listed for the core Paladin's Code of Conduct and never again mentions poisons. This would seem that Oathbound Paladins are exempt from this ruling.

"Code of Conduct: The oathbound paladin must abide by the listed tenets of her oath in addition to the specifics of her god's code of conduct. In some cases, a deity's or paladin order's code may conflict with the oath's tenets; in most cases, these conflicts mean the oath is unsuitable for a paladin of that deity or order (such as the Oath against the Wyrm with respect to a good dragon deity or a dragon-riding order of paladins) and cannot be selected by the paladin."

Looks to me like Oathbound paladins get a double code, not a replacement code.

Great work, appreciate the faq updates. I understand the reasoning behind the paragraph about paladins and poison due to their code of conduct, but i would appreciate a further clarification for some of the oaths, such as oath of vengence that replaces the code of conduct class feature, especially if the paladin's race gives them a natural poison. Oath of vengeance's Code of Conduct reads, "Never let lesser evils distract you from your pursuit of just vengeance" so may allow at least the racial poison.

It appears that the Oathbound archetype does indeed change the language listed for the core Paladin's Code of Conduct and never again mentions poisons. This would seem that Oathbound Paladins are exempt from this ruling.

"Code of Conduct: The oathbound paladin must abide by the listed tenets of her oath in addition to the specifics of her god's code of conduct. In some cases, a deity's or paladin order's code may conflict with the oath's tenets; in most cases, these conflicts mean the oath is unsuitable for a paladin of that deity or order (such as the Oath against the Wyrm with respect to a good dragon deity or a dragon-riding order of paladins) and cannot be selected by the paladin."

Looks to me like Oathbound paladins get a double code, not a replacement code.

*In addition to their God's code*

The core paladin Code of Conduct isn't listed as "their God's code". It is it's own thing. If the god of the Paladin states "no poison" then i agree, if it doesn't then they can use them.

Can I purchase spellcasting services at higher than the minimum caster level?

You may purchase spellcasting services at higher than minimum caster level if the spell appears on the prestige award list in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. Spellcasting services for all other spells can only be purchased at minimum caster level. Spells purchased with Prestige Points are always at minimum caster level.

It appears that I now have an illegal item. I paid to have Continual Flame at CL20 put on a mundane item. From my reading of the FAQ, this is now not legal. What do I do with that item? Do I get to sell it back at full price?

I took an archetype or other ability or feature that gives me access to features that are not legal as per Additional Resources. What happens?

If the non-legal options are an automatic part of the archetype, such as a feat that all characters with that archetype gain, the Additional Resources page often provides a substitution. If it does not, that option is legal for your character. However, if the non-legal options are part of a menu of choices, such as a list of feats that includes one feat that is not legal, the option does not become legal for your character.

Additional Resources wrote:

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary

Feats: none of the feats are legal for play for PCs, animal companions, or familiars unless specifically granted by another legal source;

Additional Resources wrote:

Advanced Player's Guide

nothing about combat styles whatsoever

So previously, because of this line "unless specifically granted by another legal source;", it was legal for natural combat style rangers to take Improved Natural Attack.

Now because of this line "However, if the non-legal options are part of a menu of choices, such as a list of feats that includes one feat that is not legal, the option does not become legal for your character." it is no longer legal.

Is this intended? Do we get to rebuild those characters? Combat styles for rangers are pretty integral to the build of being a ranger. I know in most cases it's an average of only 1 damage, but it's still a pretty disheartening blow.

Can I purchase spellcasting services at higher than the minimum caster level?

You may purchase spellcasting services at higher than minimum caster level if the spell appears on the prestige award list in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. Spellcasting services for all other spells can only be purchased at minimum caster level. Spells purchased with Prestige Points are always at minimum caster level.

It appears that I now have an illegal item. I paid to have Continual Flame at CL20 put on a mundane item. From my reading of the FAQ, this is now not legal. What do I do with that item? Do I get to sell it back at full price?

It also means all those rust monsters, and NPC's with sundering become that much more of a hassle since make whole would not longer qualify for the higher caster levels.

Can I purchase spellcasting services at higher than the minimum caster level?

You may purchase spellcasting services at higher than minimum caster level if the spell appears on the prestige award list in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. Spellcasting services for all other spells can only be purchased at minimum caster level. Spells purchased with Prestige Points are always at minimum caster level.

It appears that I now have an illegal item. I paid to have Continual Flame at CL20 put on a mundane item. From my reading of the FAQ, this is now not legal. What do I do with that item? Do I get to sell it back at full price?

Can I purchase spellcasting services at higher than the minimum caster level?

You may purchase spellcasting services at higher than minimum caster level if the spell appears on the prestige award list in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. Spellcasting services for all other spells can only be purchased at minimum caster level. Spells purchased with Prestige Points are always at minimum caster level.

It appears that I now have an illegal item. I paid to have Continual Flame at CL20 put on a mundane item. From my reading of the FAQ, this is now not legal. What do I do with that item? Do I get to sell it back at full price?

It also means all those rust monsters, and NPC's with sundering become that much more of a hassle since make whole would not longer qualify for the higher caster levels.

That's hardly the case, for make whole appears on the list of spell casting services in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide.

Can I purchase spellcasting services at higher than the minimum caster level?

You may purchase spellcasting services at higher than minimum caster level if the spell appears on the prestige award list in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. Spellcasting services for all other spells can only be purchased at minimum caster level. Spells purchased with Prestige Points are always at minimum caster level.

It appears that I now have an illegal item. I paid to have Continual Flame at CL20 put on a mundane item. From my reading of the FAQ, this is now not legal. What do I do with that item? Do I get to sell it back at full price?

It also means all those rust monsters, and NPC's with sundering become that much more of a hassle since make whole would not longer qualify for the higher caster levels.

That's hardly the case, for make whole appears on the list of spell casting services in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide.

My bad. I never realized it was on there. I retract my previous comment.

It does. Not to the same extent, but it would still benefit from inclusion on the list as a result of the change.

Greater Make Whole wrote:

This spell repairs 1d6 points of damage plus 1 point per level when cast on a construct creature (maximum 10d6+10). Greater make whole can fix destroyed magic items or technological items (items at 0 hit points or fewer), and restores the magic properties of the item if your caster level at least equal to that of the item. [sic] This spell otherwise functions as make whole.

Can I purchase spellcasting services at higher than the minimum caster level?

You may purchase spellcasting services at higher than minimum caster level if the spell appears on the prestige award list in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. Spellcasting services for all other spells can only be purchased at minimum caster level. Spells purchased with Prestige Points are always at minimum caster level.

It appears that I now have an illegal item. I paid to have Continual Flame at CL20 put on a mundane item. From my reading of the FAQ, this is now not legal. What do I do with that item? Do I get to sell it back at full price?

It also means all those rust monsters, and NPC's with sundering become that much more of a hassle since make whole would not longer qualify for the higher caster levels.

That's hardly the case, for make whole appears on the list of spell casting services in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide.

So can I sell my, now illegal, item back for full price? Or is it grandfathered and I get to keep it?

Well, it uses the same wording as the Elf Blood and Orc Blood racial traits use ("for any effects related to race"), and half-elves and half-orcs can officially take FCBs from their parent races, so I don't see why not.

EDIT: To continue the Racial Heritage train, Blood of the Beast states that any time a human and a kitsune mate, the offspring is always kitsune. Does this prevent a human character from taking Racial Heritage (kitsune), seeing as it makes it impossible for a human to even have a kitsune ancestor?

It is also supposed to be impossible for a human and a dwarf to have a child, but Racial Heritage (Dwarf) remains a valid option.

As to how a human and a kitsune could have a child: Let's say that a kitsune and a human have a kitsune child. That kitsune child has another kitsune child by another human. Maybe there is a limit to how many generations you can keep that up before a human child is born to a mostly human kitsune?

I'm not sure it's a helpful item. Unless it's heightened, it isn't going to override deeper darkness, just be harder to dispel. And I don't think we were ever able to get an NPC to cast a heightened continual flame.

Just out of curiosity, Gary; why did you pay for a CL20 continual flame?

Because I had one cast min level by a player for me and a GM (who shall remain nameless) dispelled the darn thing. Since the character was human it made for a really fun time in darkness to fight. I figured that if I got it cast at CL20 it would be a lot harder to dispel again.

I'm not sure it's a helpful item. Unless it's heightened, it isn't going to override deeper darkness, just be harder to dispel. And I don't think we were ever able to get an NPC to cast a heightened continual flame.

I didn't try to get a heightened cast on it as well because, well didn't know about it..

So yea, only wanted to have something that could deal with darkness. I now have something else to deal with deeper darkness.

as i'm reading that (admitedly while shoveling out of the snowpocalypse and enough crown royal to safely store my dice collection) it is allowed by another source, so it's legal, so it's not illegal, so it can be granted by a source.

I'm on my phone so this I can't easily quote the relevant text, but the FAQ about an illegal choice in a list still isn't legal implies that natural combat style rangers can't take improved natural attack. Is that intended?

BigNorseWolf wrote:

claud,

as i'm reading that (admitedly while shoveling out of the snowpocalypse and enough crown royal to safely store my dice collection) it is allowed by another source, so it's legal, so it's not illegal, so it can be granted by a source.

Although.. yeah that could use some clarification.

If the non-legal options are an automatic part of the archetype, such as a feat that all characters with that archetype gain, the Additional Resources page often provides a substitution. If it does not, that option is legal for your character. However, if the non-legal options are part of a menu of choices, such as a list of feats that includes one feat that is not legal, the option does not become legal for your character.

As stated here in this ruling (which is overriding the Additional Resources text), Improved Natural Weapon (i assume is the feat in question), is part of a list of menu choices, therefore it is not legal.

I'm on my phone so this I can't easily quote the relevant text, but the FAQ about an illegal choice in a list still isn't legal implies that natural combat style rangers can't take improved natural attack. Is that intended?

BigNorseWolf wrote:

claud,

as i'm reading that (admitedly while shoveling out of the snowpocalypse and enough crown royal to safely store my dice collection) it is allowed by another source, so it's legal, so it's not illegal, so it can be granted by a source.

Although.. yeah that could use some clarification.

If the non-legal options are an automatic part of the archetype, such as a feat that all characters with that archetype gain, the Additional Resources page often provides a substitution. If it does not, that option is legal for your character. However, if the non-legal options are part of a menu of choices, such as a list of feats that includes one feat that is not legal, the option does not become legal for your character.

As stated here in this ruling (which is overriding the Additional Resources text), Improved Natural Weapon (i assume is the feat in question), is part of a list of menu choices, therefore it is not legal.

Improved Natural Attack, but yeah, that's the gist of it. It was legal before because "it was granted by a legal option". But now it's not because "it's part of a legal list of options so the individual choice is still illegal."

I'm on my phone so this I can't easily quote the relevant text, but the FAQ about an illegal choice in a list still isn't legal implies that natural combat style rangers can't take improved natural attack. Is that intended?

BigNorseWolf wrote:

claud,

as i'm reading that (admitedly while shoveling out of the snowpocalypse and enough crown royal to safely store my dice collection) it is allowed by another source, so it's legal, so it's not illegal, so it can be granted by a source.

Although.. yeah that could use some clarification.

If the non-legal options are an automatic part of the archetype, such as a feat that all characters with that archetype gain, the Additional Resources page often provides a substitution. If it does not, that option is legal for your character. However, if the non-legal options are part of a menu of choices, such as a list of feats that includes one feat that is not legal, the option does not become legal for your character.

As stated here in this ruling (which is overriding the Additional Resources text), Improved Natural Weapon (i assume is the feat in question), is part of a list of menu choices, therefore it is not legal.

I wonder if it is intended that animal companions can no longer take Improved Natural Armor and Improved Natural Attack?

(A sad note, the drake companion never qualified for those feats in PFS)

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